Category Archives: My Running

No turning back… 193 days to go!

Posted on by
3

My blog is meant to be a ‘running’ commentary about my ‘jogging’ trials and tribulations (in addition to the moaning and groaning about daily life). But let me begin with an honest confession. I have not run a single race since July’s RAC 10km. Yes, I’ve done some runs at the gym, but no serious running training. Until now…

There are 193 days left until the 2012 Two Oceans Half Marathon. And I have decided to give it another go!

Phew…it gives me goosies just reading that back to myself. It’s a big deal for me, especially considering that for me, running a half marathon involves a lot more training and dedication than a simple 10km and because I have to ensure my running speed gets me to the finish line before that dreaded 3 hour cut off gun. (A gun, yes! It’s that dramatic!).

There are a few lessons I’ve learnt in the past 3 years of running Two Oceans that have prepared me for the 2012 race. The one is that I need to start training early in order to be fully trained in time for Oceans. The other lesson is that even if I manage to run 3kms in a day, it’s still more training than doing nothing at all.

So today was day one of my Two Oceans 2012 training.

I started with an hour’s run at the gym, clocking up 7kms. Mentally, this is a great start. It is important that I manage to run 7kms under 60 minutes. This will ensure that I run 21.1kms within 180 minutes in order to make the cut-off time.

I have always followed Coach Dave’s (RIP) training tips and so today, I did 2 minutes running, followed by 1 minute walking… (be honest Bron!)… 1 minute running, followed by 1 minute walking. As tough as some of those minutes were, I kept reminding myself that I have managed to conquer many half marathons already and have survived running for a solid three hours – one minute will seriously not kill me.

As with all things in life, I know that dedication and training will ensure I reach my goals and only I will know in the end if I have been honest with myself and have done enough.

Running is a very personal journey, especially if one has specific goals to reach.

I have one. I want to run the 2012 Two Oceans Half Marathon in 2 hours 45 minutes. *gulp* There. I said it!

Let the training begin! *my heart is beating so fast right now!*

The Urge to Run – I’m guilty

Posted on by
1

Lately, something’s been bugging me. Eating away at me. Making me feel more and more miserable every time the thought enters my mind. My running. Or more specifically, the lack thereof.

To be honest, after my Two Oceans victory, my running has slowed down. Dramatically! Since April, I’ve only completed the RAC 10km, Pirates 10km as well as the occasional 8km Sunday run on the deathmill treadmill. If I have to be truly honest with myself, my running training has slacked off, partly due to Winter, but mainly due to pure laziness.

I am constantly complaining about my running speed. Yet, unless I get off my butt and do some training, I will forever be stuck keeping up those damn walkers!

So when I got home last night, I consulted the big Bible of running – Tim Noakes’ The Lore of Running*. I thought that it might help me to pick up a few hints and tips on how to get back on the road, how to motivate myself again and where to get started.

I immediately turned to the 15 Basic Laws of Training. Four of the Laws caught my eye.

  1. Train frequently, all year round. If you want to be a good athlete, you must train all year round, no matter what. What is really required is a lot of exercise, constantly. 
  2. Start gradually and train gently. Nearly all of us dash in to it, hoping for and expecting results which are quite unwarranted. Nature is unable to make a really first-class job of anything if she is hustled. To enhance our best, we need only, and should only, enhance our average.
  3. Don’t set your daily training schedule in stone. Don’t set yourself a daily schedule; it is for more sensible to run a weekly one, because you can’t tell what the temperature, weather, or your own condition will be in any day. You need to listen to your body.
  4. Keep a detailed logbook. Quite embarrassingly, my logbook (Garmin) ended with the Two Oceans. It’s as if once I had conquered the race, the need to log my runs and to push myself fell by the way side. Yet had I continued to keep track of the log, I would have noticed that my running had slacked off and I might have put in measures earlier to make things right.

Ironically, these laws can be applied to my daily routine too… Too many times, a problem nags at me and all it takes is me sitting down and putting some plans in place to fix.

In a few weeks’ times, the weather will be a lot warmer and the sun will be setting later in the evenings. There will be no excuse to get out on to the road for a run. I have to start sometime. Even if it’s 3kms – 5kms around the block or at the gym, it’s a start. And a start is all I need…

(* Noakes, Tim. The Lore of Running. 2010) — Yes, this is the Librarian in me coming out!

Good is never good enough…

Posted on by
1

Sitting in my mid-year appraisal this morning, it became apparent to me that I approach my work in very much the same way as I approach my running. In my mind I am never good enough. I am always striving to improve. And no matter how family or colleagues rate me, I continuously believe I could’ve done better. I always feel as if I have let myself down.

My very first 10km was the Valentines Race in Randburg. (this is an amazing race, so much atmosphere and awesome vibe – gr8 for newbies). My time was a solid 87 minutes. 

In my mind, the fact that I had finished was a victory in itself and we celebrated by getting Kentucky rounders on the way home (don’t judge okay). Three years later and my time has improved to 77 minutes. That equates to 1 whole minute off every kilometer. This is fantastic! Yet for me, still not good enough and lately, if I run a race that takes me longer than 80 minutes, I am depressed the whole day and feel highly irritated. 

It’s the same with my half marathons. I was the type of person that couldn’t run longer than 35 seconds on a dreadmill treadmill without stopping. I am now able to run 21.1kms. Non-stop. Most people cannot do this. Most people don’t even attempt the 35 seconds on the treadmill! 

I have managed to bring my half marathon times down from 3hrs 17mins (Johnson Crane 2009) to 2 hrs 48mins (Two Oceans 2011). 

I find that when I run, I tend to look more at my Garmin running watch on my wrist, watching the lap times, than I do on the road in front of me. Every kilometer is either too fast or too slow and I spend majority of the time stressing, doing the maths in my head as to what my final race time will be. 

I run each race hoping to get a faster time and a better PB (personal best). And yet that’s not possible at every race. People tell me not to worry about those around me, or the times, but to run and enjoy the race. I am not there yet… I ignore them.

I tackle my work in very much the same way. I strive to know more, push myself to work harder. Always thinking in my head that what I am doing is not good enough. However, come appraisal time and I am generally rated quite well. My boss and colleagues are happy with (most) of what I do and I do get very positive feedback. Great team player, good people skills, knowledgeable… 

So then what’s my problem? In striving to be this A performer (read: PB runner), I need to stop and consider the facts. I have the ability to run 21.1kms. I have done what most people cannot do. I have succeeded and got the medals (and the t-shirts). I have done what needs to be done and I’ve done it well. And even if I haven’t done well, and I’ve been disappointed, and fallen short of the mark, well.. that was yesterday, and this is today. 

I need to be happy and look on towards the next race and the next challenge. But remembering to look back and sometimes pat myself on the back for what I have been able to accomplish. Victory lap around my desk!

Well done Bron!

 

I’m just tired…

Posted on by
3

I got home from work on Monday evening just before 7pm. KK was still not home and as I sat in the dark, in my car, in the garage, scrolling through my Twitter time line (a ritual I do most evenings), I started to ask myself a couple of hard hitting questions. Surely there was more to life than working 12 hour long, stressful days, leaving for work and arriving home in the dark, raccoon red eyes from staring at my laptop screen?  Was it worth it? My mind wondered off to the news that a colleague had resigned and was leaving to go assist her husband run a game farm. Being the ‘bush baby’ that I am, I burned with envy. How glorious… 

I came to the conclusion that I am just tired. I’m tired of Winter. Tired of leaving for gym in the dark. Tired of dieting when I crave comfort food. Tired of the hour long commute to work and back. Tired of having static hair (thought I’d throw that one in). Tired of having sinus because the seasons can’t decide what they’re doing… Just tired. And I feel guilty for feeling tired. I know there’s a lot to look forward to. I just need to get through August. 

Struggling to shake the sinus attack that had crippled my body since Friday (drama queen), I had used it as an excuse not to run Wits Kudu’s 10km on Sunday. This is a new race on the race calendar so there were many doubts filling my head. The one was that awareness of the race would be low and therefore very few runners (I was wrong). Another was that after I ran, I would develop a serious chest infection and take long to recover. 

So KK and the running gang headed out to run the race while I snuggled under the blanket. I could not sleep. Mostly because my nose was irritating me, but also because I was watching the tweets on my Twitter time line of those that had in fact run the race. Verdicts of “toughest race ever” and “relentless hills” were coming through. Then the tweets of those that had completed it and how victorious they felt. When KK did arrive home, his verdict was that it was a ”swine of a race” but was proudly wearing the cap he received at the finish.

Secretly relieved that perhaps I did in fact make the right decision not to run such a tough race, I realized that I most probably would’ve been fine to run. It’s not flu. It’s a runny nose. I am ever so willing to use the smallest excuse to get me out of running a race. And yet in life, I am not that kind of person. 

Anyone looking at how I live my life would see that I am not a quitter. I am the one that never takes sick leave. I am the one that works the long hours. I am the one that tries new challenges at work and in my life. I’m the one that gets up at the crack of dawn to get to gym. I’m game for anything new.

No. I love running. I really do! I’m just tired…